I teach music appreciation and vocal music students in grades 6-8. Our community is a diverse mix of students from a variety of backgrounds, but, overall, we are an inner-city school with extreme poverty and limited resources. Many of my students do not speak English at home. A full 80% qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. My students rarely leave their neighborhoods and have limited access to the world around them. Many are dealing with a lot of trauma in their personal lives and are forced to grow up far too quickly at home. I try to help everybody feel free of worries and stress through music-making and singing! My students work on having a positive growth mindset and making everyone feel safe and included. I strive to instill a lifelong love and appreciation of the fine arts through music-making, while also teaching skills like teamwork, confidence, creativity, and self-motivation. My students are just like any other middle school students, struggling with finding their place and their identity. But together in music, they can all feel like they belong!
My Project
This project will bring a collection of classroom games to our music room. One of the skills we work on in music class is the ability to communicate effectively with one another and work cohesively as a team. These things can be practiced in a variety of fun ways that will engage my middle school students in social emotional learning skills through the use of games!
Playing games in a team will allow for opportunity to work on collaboration, communication, cooperation and teamwork!
Specific games in this collection, like "Taboo" and "Apples to Apples", will be used to practice presentation skills. Students are required to and think on their feet and use descriptive words to communicate with one another. Another game in this collection is "Rhythm Bingo". Students can play with one another to practice their rhythm performance skills as well as their ability to recognize rhythms at sight. Other games such as "Uno" and "Connect Four" are strategy games that require "thinking ahead," a skills that we use in music class daily.
With a collection of games at hand, my classroom will be well prepared for special behavior incentive days as well as days when a substitute teacher might be required. Students can take charge of their own learning on these days and engage in fun tasks that will build their collaborative and social emotional skills while having fun in a team!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Rathe and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
